The Friendship Files: Insomnia
by LanieSullivan
Summary: New entry in The Friendship Files for Over the Limit. What happens when Francine notices a drastic shift in Lee after wrapping up the case and realizes that Amanda is the cause for that shift?


Disclaimer: "Scarecrow and Mrs. King" is copyrighted to Warner Brothers and Shoot the Moon Productions. The plot is mine, but not the characters. This story is meant for enjoyment purposes only. No infringement is intended.

Francine watched with a curious expression on her face as Lee walked into the bullpen jauntily which was highly unusual for him this early in the morning. He was also looking better than he had in days, appeared to have finally gotten a decent night's sleep and was he...yes, he was actually whistling. His suit was neat and pressed, his tie straight, was clean-shaven, and his shoes were shined. She had to find out what had made the difference from earlier in the week and his "insomnia."

"My, my, don't you look chipper this morning," she purred as she caught up to him at the coffee station.

"And I plan to stay that way, so don't start with any of your sarcastic comments," Lee warned. He'd had an amazing first date with Amanda the night before and wasn't about to let anyone, especially Francine ruin it.

Looking affronted, she replied, "What makes you think I was going to make any?"

"I know you, Francine," Lee answered as he turned to the coffee station his eyes scanning the area for his familiar coffee cup.

"Here," Amanda insert cheerily as she entered with Lee's cup, pouring steaming coffee into it and adding a dollop of cream to it for him.

 _How very matrimonial of her,_ Francine thought, but didn't quite have the nerve to say it. She couldn't help noticing how Lee's smile brightened at Amanda's entrance and wondered if she has something to do with his good mood when it was well-known around the office that Scarecrow was not a morning person.

As Lee took a sip of the coffee Amanda had just handed him, he looked at the brunette curiously, his smile never fading and asked, "How'd you end up with my cup?"

"Oh," Amanda replied nonchalantly. "You left it in my car when we went to Transoceanic the other day, so I took it home and washed it for you."

"You washed it?" He smiled at her thoughtfulness.

"Yes, I washed it," she answered with a smile as she took a sip of her coffee. "It had fallen into the backseat and sat there for two days before Phillip found it. By that time, it was ready to start growing things and I know how much you like your special cup."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome." They smiled at one another in silence until Amanda said, "You know, I should...uh...go check in with Mr. Melrose. He called me this morning and said he wanted to ask me some questions about my first spring cleaning."

Lee nodded. "You did great for your first time out," He told her with a proud smile on his face.

"Thank you," she beamed at him while Francine rolled her eyes. "I should...uh...I should..."

"Yeah, go. I'll catch up with you later," Lee promised his smile at her holding a promise of more than just catching up on work stuff, which was not lost on Francine.

Francine watched Lee's eyes following Amanda as she walked away. Once she was out of earshot, she said archly, "Soooo, that's the reason you're in such a good mood today and the reason you're finally getting some sleep."

"What's that supposed to mean," Lee replied defensively.

She nodded the direction Amanda had gone and responded in a cool tone, "I wouldn't count on anymore "insomnia" if you're dating her now."

"Oh, for Pete's sake, Francine," Lee grumbled not liking her tone one bit. "I told you just like I told Billy _and_ Amanda that insomnia is really all it was." What he wasn't about to tell her was that his insomnia was caused largely by guilt over dating Leslie when he should have been with Amanda, not to mention the incredibly vivid dreams of Amanda that had accompanied those thoughts followed by numerous cold showers. "Besides, what makes you think that I'm dating Amanda?"

"Please," she scoffed with a roll of her eyes. "It was written all over your faces, both of you. That's aside from the fact that you didn't make your usual appearance at the Soviet Embassy party."

"How'd you know that?"

"I get around," she answered.

"Oh," he said with a laugh. "I know that all too well."

"Look who's talking," she retorted. "How many black books do you have again?"

"None," Lee answered matter-of-factly.

"Come on," Francine said disbelievingly.

"Seriously, I destroyed them all. There's no one in them that appeals to me anymore."

"So, what? You're just going to start a new collection and since Amanda's in the "A's you decided to start with her?"

"No, Francine, no black books," Lee replied with a shrug as if it were no big deal. He was still wrestling with exactly what he felt for Amanda and he wasn't about to lay it all out for Francine when he wasn't quite sure what it meant himself.

"Good." Francine said with a nod, "Because Amanda's not a "black book" kind of woman."

"I know that, Francine," Lee replied. He knew that all too well. Amanda was...special. "Besides, I never said I was dating Amanda to begin with, you just assumed."

"When it comes to your love life, my assumptions are almost always right," she challenged him. When Lee had no argument, she probed further, "So, where exactly were you when your little translator girlfriend was left to fend for herself at the party?"

"She's...uh...she's not my girlfriend," Lee hedged and suddenly became very interested in the contents of his coffee cup. "Not anymore."

"See your true colors and dump you, did she?"

Lee slammed his cup down in irritation and snapped, "No, Francine, she didn't. _**I**_ ended things with her, not the other way around."

"I'm surprised considering how much "insomnia" you were having with her," she retorted with an impish grin.

"For the last time, Francine, it really was just insomnia." He could have slept with Leslie as she'd made it clear that she was more than willing, but his heart just wasn't in it. That had never mattered to him before, but now...now...

Lee's thoughts were interrupted by Francine's increasingly grating voice saying in an acid tone, "Well, you won't have to worry about that for a long, long time now. You won't be having any "insomnia" issues with Amanda unless you're willing to put a ring on her finger."

Lee smiled at her and replied, "You never know. There's much more to Amanda than meets the eye."

"And you know this from first-hand experience?" Francine questioned.

"No," Lee answered honestly, "Just from reading her background information, that and knowing how to count."

"I don't get it," she replied in confusion.

"Look at her background information one of these days. Look at the date she was married compared to the date she gave birth to Phillip. The math...well, it just doesn't quite add up there," Lee said, his voice dripping with innuendo.

"Which makes it even more unlikely that she'd be willing to take a chance like that again," Francine fired back. "Her marriage ended, remember? She had to have been heartbroken by that and if you know what's right, you'll just back the hell off and not put her through that again."

"Look, Francine-"

"You never did answer my question," she interrupted. "Where were you when you bailed on the embassy party?"

"I just wanted a quiet dinner instead," Lee answered with another noncommittal shrug.

"Quiet? With Amanda? You've got to be kidding!"

"Who said I was with Amanda?"

Francine gave him her who-do-you-think-you're-kidding look and answered, "Seriously? You're still going to try to pretend that you weren't. You two were at each other's throats just three days ago and now, you're making puppy-dog eyes at each other as if nothing ever happened. It may go unnoticed by other people around here because they'd just see it as her well-known hero-worship of you, but it's more than that now, isn't it?" When Lee was silent, she began to look worried. "Isn't it?" Still silence and an expression on Lee's face that she couldn't quite read, was it remorse? No, it wasn't just remorse; there was something else there as well that she couldn't put her finger on. "Please tell me that you're not using her little crush on you to your own advantage."

"She doesn't have a "little crush" on me," Lee finally answered. "Look, I appreciate your concern, Francine, but really, I need to handle this my own way and your prying isn't helping."

"So, you admit you're dating Amanda?"

"No," Lee replied.

"No?"

"No." Lee sighed, ran a hand through his hair and then turned from her reaching for a handful of napkins and distracted himself by wiping up the droplets of coffee that has sloshed out of his cup when he'd slammed it down.

"Does she think you're dating?"

He whipped around to face her and said, "I don't know, okay? We had a nice dinner and I took her home and...I don't know. We just had a good time together, not talking about work for once. Can't we just leave it at that?" He didn't want to admit even to himself that he had seen it as a date and was terrified that Amanda didn't see it the same way. He was more frightened of that than he'd ever been of any terrorist, any bomb or any bullet that might try to do him in.

"My goodness, Scarecrow, You're blushing. I'm beginning to think that maybe you're the one with the crush."

"Maybe," Lee said wistfully as he picked up his coffee cup again and took a sip as an excuse to break eye contact with him. "You know, I...uh...I should go talk to Billy, tell him what a great job Amanda did on her first spring cleaning outing." He quickly departed unable to take the intense scrutiny of Francine's knowing looks any longer.

"I never thought I'd live to see the day," Francine said as she watched him walk away. She smiled slightly wondering if perhaps the Midnight Rambler had finally met his match, but then a disturbing thought crossed her mind as it occurred to her that he might start itching for that "insomnia" again, ruining his partnership with Amanda. She made a mental note to observe them very closely from now on.


End file.
